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EU referendum: Odds on UK exit lengthen as pressure grows to give 16 and 17-year-olds a vote

But a Tory MP says young people 'aren't really interested'

Tuesday 26 May 2015 15:56 BST

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, meets Prime Minister David Cameron at Chequers (PA)

The odds of the UK voting to leave the EU have been lengthened amid growing pressure for 16- and 17-year-olds to be given a say in a promised referendum.

Downing Street has announced that the rules for who can take part in the in/out vote, set to take place before the end of 2017, will roughly follow those of general elections – meaning under-18s will miss out.

And Tory MP John Redwood sparked controversy by claiming it was a “myth” that the inclusion of 16- and 17-year-olds in the vote would make it more likely for Britain to vote to stay in the economic bloc.

“I did meetings in schools before the general election,” he said. “No one who was 16 or 17 at those meetings was saying that they specifically wanted to have a vote on the EU issue, because they weren't really interested in the EU issue.”

The proposal to deny young people a vote attracted criticism for David Cameron on Monday, and saw Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems united in calling for a change to the rules.

And the odds of the UK voting to leave the EU have now lengthened with bookmaker William Hill, from 2/1 to 9/4. The betting company shortened the odds of Britain staying in to 1/3.

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

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1/8What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Welfare payments will be slashed

One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by £12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where £2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves £10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit – with millions of families losing out

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die

The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to £50,000 by 2020. They haven’t said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017

The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be more privatisation of the NHS

Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be many more free schools – and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past

The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future

Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There maybe more free childcare – but not necessarily

In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Workers' rights could be reduced

The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power – but these are now under threat

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Mr Cameron hosted the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday and Tuesday for initial talks over EU reform.

On Thursday Mr Cameron will fly to Denmark for a working breakfast with his counterpart Helle Thorning-Schmidt, going on to the Netherlands to meet Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte before ending the day with talks over dinner at the Elysee Palace with French president Francois Hollande.

On Friday, the Prime Minister will travel to Warsaw for discussions with prime minister Ewa Kopacz in Warsaw before concluding the trip in Berlin where he will hold talks with chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Prime Minister hopes to talk to all other 27 leaders of EU member states individually before the European Council summit at the end of next month.

One bookmaker is currently offering odds on which country will be the next to leave the EU. Betfair listed Greece as narrow favourites on 4/6, ahead of the UK on 11/10.

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